“Roger, Roger.” Mitch followed Amber out to the garage.
Cami put her mug in the sink and walked out onto the patio before stepping into the backyard. The still, cool air of morning kissed her skin and made her smile. Dappled shadows created a lacework of light and dark grass in the yard, set to the tune of songbirds greeting the rising sun. Cami stood there for a moment, eyes closed and smiling. How could anything be wrong in such a peaceful setting?
The only thing that would make it better, she decided, would be if Reese were home. That thought brought her back to earth, and Cami sighed, feeling the heartsick weight on her shoulders again. She had to be the strong one and care for Amber—and Mitch, until his father arrived—while Reese was…somewhere. None of her texts had been answered and with the cell service down, she’d been totally cut off from her husband for almost 24 hours…even when she was on guides in the wilds of Alaska, she’d always had a satellite phone for emergencies.
Cami looked at the useless phone in her hand. “You’re just a glorified paperweight now, huh?” She sighed again and pocketed the phone, then opened up the shed and moved yard tools aside to clear access to the bank of deep cycle marine batteries against the far wall. After sweeping away cobwebs and a thick layer of dust, she pulled the wires free and examined everything. The last thing they needed was to find mice had chewed through a critical cable.
In short order, she had the wires passed through the waterproof gasket at the front of the shed, ready to connect to the solar panel station. Mitch and Amber chose that moment to appear around the corner of the house, each carrying a bulging green tote.
“Set ‘em down over here, please,” Cami instructed, dusting her hands off and pointing to a patch of grass about twenty feet from the shed. She turned and squinted up at the cloudless sky. “I think this spot looks pretty good. The sun will clear those trees in a few minutes.” Cami pointed across the street to the trees behind Harriet Spalding’s house. “It’s going to be in full light until sunset…when the sun goes down over there,” she continued, shifting her aim to the tree line that demarcated the forest preserve.
Amber examined the garden, lifting up a massive squash leaf. “What are we going to do about water for the garden?”
Cami put her hands on her hips. “I was thinking about that. We need to set up a rain collection system.”
“I thought there’s a creek around here somewhere…” Mitch said, peering at the forest preserve. “I remember running through the woods back when we were kids…”
“Oh, it’s still there,” Cami agreed. “About a hundred yards back in the trees. It moves pretty good, but it’s just a pain to get to. I mean…” she tapped her chin in thought. “I guess if we got desperate, we could clear a path. I don’t think the forest preserve police will care much. Probably got a lot more things to worry about at the moment.”
“I’d rather not cut down trees, mom,” Amber said, holding a vine-ripe zucchini the size of a football.
“Oh, me neither,” Cami replied, bending to poke through one of the green totes. “But if we don’t get enough rain, we’ll have to. Unless you want to go to the pond over there by the Spalding’s.”
Amber wrinkled her nose. “Ew. No. Dad used to take me fishing over there.”
“It’s stocked?” asked Mitch, suddenly interested.
Amber laughed. “I don’t think so—I only ever caught slime fish. There’s all kinds of algae and stuff. It’s like a marsh, really.”
“Here, can you set this stake in the ground over there?” asked Cami, holding a metal support post out to Mitch. “When we assemble the array, the post will lock into that and keep it anchored to the ground. Just make sure that hole there on the side—yup, that one—stays above the ground. That’s where the wires come out and connect to these,” she advised, holding up the wires from inside the shed.
“Got it,” Mitch replied, taking the metal piece.
“Here,” Cami said, turning to her daughter. “Amber, you take the other one and put it…I don’t know…maybe over there.”
“Oh! Hey, Mr. Price,” Amber said, without taking the post from Cami.
Cami turned and squinted in the light—the sun chose that moment to crest the trees and nearly blinded her. She stood and dusted her hands again as Marty Price shuffled across their shared side yard, Kirk at his side, tongue lolling and stumpy tail zipping back and forth.
“Whoa, is that a Weimaraner?” asked Mitch, taking a knee, so the cinnamon-colored dog could bound over and lick his face.
Marty grinned reluctantly. “Close. He’s a vizsla. Kirk—easy, boy.”
“Expecting trouble?” asked Cami, nodding at the AR slung over Marty’s shoulder.
The old man grunted and leaned on a carved wooden cane. “No, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it finds us…sooner or later.”
“Marty, the power went out—”
“It went out all up and down the east coast. From Miami to Canada. Now the blackouts are as far west as Nashville. Third of the nation, Camilla.”
Cami clenched her jaw. She took a breath and forced herself to relax. “Well, at least we don’t have to deal with the destruction down by the coast.”
“Oh, but we will,” Marty said, looking around her back yard as if appraising a used car. “How’s the garden?”
“It’s fine, been a good summer—wait, what do you mean ‘we will’?”
Marty turned his rheumy eyes on her. Despite his advanced age, his eyes were still bright blue and held intelligence that ran opposite to the weakened state of his body. He’d
